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Trixie and the Razzle-Dazzle Ruse
My Little Pony: Trixie and the Razzle-Dazzle Ruse by G. M. Berrow is the twenty-fourth book in a series of chapter books published by Little, Brown and Company. In this story, Trixie is accidentally cursed with the ability to turn ordinary objects into gemstones just by touching them. Production The book was initially announced as being published on February 9, 2016—under the title The Trouble with Trixie—then on January 10, 2017, before being delayed further to March 7, 2017. Summary A Grand Entrance The story begins in Ponyville; Trixie stays with Starlight Glimmer for an extended stay at the Castle of Friendship as opposed to her usual routine of staying in her wagon while visiting town. Starlight is excited for time off from friendship lessons to have some fun with her friend, but Trixie has a more important priority. She wants to come up with a brand new magic trick to impress the Starmane Society of Magicians enough to be inducted as their newest member. The following morning, Trixie serves breakfast for Twilight Sparkle and Starlight before setting out on her mission. She approaches Rarity at the Carousel Boutique and tries to commission a new cloak for her performance to impress the Starmane Society at the Grand Magician's Ball. Rarity is intrigued to help Trixie gain access to an exclusive social event, but she is too busy making a dress for Sapphire Shores to wear for the upcoming Glammy Awards. Trixie appeals to Rarity's generosity, and Rarity agrees to help her once she has some free time. Overjoyed, Trixie tries to show Rarity how she wants her cloak to look, but she gets in the way of Rarity's dressmaking. While attempting to add some gold trim to the dress, Rarity accidentally strikes Trixie's right forehoof with her magic. The intense heat of Rarity's magic knocks Trixie off-balance, and she spills water all over the dress. Fearing Rarity's angry scolding, Trixie excuses herself in shame. A Razzle-Dazzle Rehearsal Despite her lack of a new cloak, Trixie holds a dress rehearsal for her newly invented magic trick: the "Tears of the Dragon". The trick involves Trixie tickling a dragon with a feather and inducing tears from its laughter. While dragon tears—the hottest-known substance in Equestria—rain down, Trixie performs a dance routine before disappearing and reappearing on top of the dragon's head with the feather in her hat. Magic assistant Starlight is a little worried about Trixie getting hurt during the trick, but Trixie is certain that everything will go according to her plan. In her familiar purple hat and cloak, Trixie takes the stage for her dress rehearsal and, after warming up the audience, gives Starlight the signal to summon a dragon. However, in the middle of her trick, Trixie's right forehoof becomes heavy and starts to emanate a golden glow. She starts to panic from this unexpected development and looks to Starlight for help. In an attempt to salvage things, Starlight uses a nearby hose to spray water into the air and create a rainbow just as the dragon flies over the stage. The audience is in awe, believing this to be part of the trick. As Trixie concludes her dress rehearsal with a flourish, the water that rains down solidifies into little gold pieces; some ponies in the audience recognize these minerals as Glowpaz, one of the most valuable gemstones in Equestria. After her dress rehearsal, Trixie goes to her favorite river spot by the Everfree Forest, her right forehoof still heavy and glowing. She considers using this strange phenomenon to impress the Starmane Society instead of the "Tears of the Dragon" trick, but the heaviness and glow in her hoof slowly fade away. Disappointed, Trixie quickly cools off in the river before returning to the castle—unaware of the Glowpaz she left behind in the river water. The Glow Rush The next morning, Starlight Glimmer ventures out to the Everfree Forest. After what happened to Trixie the day before, she informed Twilight, and the two discovered a potential cure in Twilight's books: a potion made from Gleam Berries. Once there, she meets a pair of elderly prospector ponies who have staked a claim to a vein of Glowpaz in the river. Starlight recognizes the gemstones in the water as the same ones that showered Trixie's dress rehearsal. Much to Starlight's surprise, dozens of other prospector ponies had shown up to stake their claims for the Glowpaz—a veritable "Glow Rush" had started. Meanwhile, Trixie returns to the Carousel Boutique and apologizes to Rarity for ruining her dress for Sapphire Shores. Trixie invites Rarity out to the Ponyville Day Spa to make up for it, and Rarity accepts, especially after spending all night fixing the dress. In the middle of their spa day together, they run into Pinkie Pie, who draws their attention to Trixie's hoof. During Trixie's hoof soak, her right forehoof starts to glow again like before. Trixie delightedly realizes that the key to her new ability is water, and she vanishes from the spa in a cloud of smoke. Just then, Starlight arrives at the spa searching for Trixie and tells Rarity that they need to stop her before she accidentally brings ruin to Ponyville. Follow the Yellow Trick Road Starlight and Rarity catch up with Trixie as her new ability causes everything she touches to turn into Glowpaz. Before long, ponies around Ponyville descend into madness trying to claim the valuable gemstones for themselves. Swooning at the thought of impressing the Starmane Society with this power, Trixie takes off for Canterlot. Twilight assembles Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash at her castle to explain the situation. She explains that Trixie's new power is actually a curse called Gem Hoof; it starts out as the ability to turn objects into gems, but if left unchecked, it will eventually crystallize the cursed pony's body into a statue. Even worse, the more Trixie uses her magic, the faster her curse will progress. When Twilight wonders how Trixie was cursed to begin with, Pinkie Pie reveals that she watched through the Carousel Boutique window as Rarity accidentally hit Trixie with her magic. The friends resolve to cure Trixie before it's too late. Unfortunately, when they go to where she usually parks her wagon, they find that the wagon is gone. Starlight and Rarity soon appear as well, having failed to stop Trixie from going to Canterlot. After making the potion necessary to cure Trixie's curse, they follow her on the Friendship Express. The Radiance Remedy In Canterlot, word has already started to spread about Trixie's gem-touch ability, and she prepares to unveil her "Hoof That Holds the Glowpaz" trick on a stage across the street from the Starmane Society Ball. By this time, the Gem Hoof curse has covered her entire right forehoof. Twilight and her friends catch up with Trixie and beg her not to perform her trick. However, Trixie refuses to listen, as she is too determined to become a member of the Starmane Society, and she doesn't believe their claims that she's going to turn into a statue. Nevertheless, Starlight Glimmer resolves to save her friend, and she makes a plan to use a backstage water hose to administer the potion. As Trixie's act gets underway, Starlight once again assumes the role of assistant. Trixie demonstrates her ability to turn objects into Glowpaz, causing the Gem Hoof curse to progress even further and crystallize the entire right side of her body. The audience starts to laugh, believing this to be some sort of comedy routine. Unable to wait any longer, Starlight uses the backstage hose to shower Trixie's body with the potion, thus healing her and lifting the curse. Trixie apologizes to her friends for getting carried away with trying to impress the Starmane Society and for not listening to them when they tried to help her earlier. Twilight and the others admit to Trixie that they admire her tenacity, and Rarity presents her with her newly completed cloak. At that moment, Starmane herself of the Starmane Society approaches Trixie and commends her for her amusing performance. She also extends an invitation for Trixie to join them at the Magician's Ball across the street, and Trixie eagerly accepts. At the Grand Magician's Ball, Trixie regales the other Society members with stories of how she saved Equestria from Queen Chrysalis and the changelings. Admiring Trixie for her enthusiasm as a performer, Starmane presents her with an official Starmane Society of Magicians membership brooch. Trixie takes a bow in joy and gratitude as the other Society members applaud their newest inductee. Quotes :Starlight Glimmer: Gosh, Trixie. When did you become such a hoof-in-the-mud? :Trixie: All right, sheesh. We will go find some frivolity. :Twilight Sparkle: Wow, Trixie. This oatmeal is delectable! What spell did you use to make it? :Trixie: No spell. Just another thing I'm amazing at! :Rarity: You've been invited to a grand ball? Do you get a plus one? For your designer? :Trixie: Uh... I haven't actually been invited, but— :Rarity: Oh, Trixie. Attending a gala you've not been invited to is rather passé, no? :Trixie: Just traveling Equestria on my tour. :Pinkie Pie: Oh! I know which one! 'The Humble and Penitent Trixie's Great Equestrian Apology Tour'? :Trixie: That was a working title. :Rarity: Can't a mare have one little, teensy spa hour without some epic drama? :Starlight Glimmer: Guess not? :Rarity: Fair enough, darling. :Trixie: Awww. That was my last smoke bomb, too. :Scootaloo: More Glowpaz! :Filthy Rich: I don't believe it. It's everywhere! I mean...uh...never mind! Nothing to see here! Go away! :Trixie: This is all just a ploy to take the attention away from me again, isn't it? :Twilight Sparkle: No, of course not. We're your friends! :Trixie: My show is starting in three minutes, and I hope you will all be in the audience to support me. You know, what friends do. :Trixie: I thought...that if they saw my glow hoof, they might think I was special... :Twilight Sparkle: You are special. And the thing we love about you most, Trixie, is that you never give up! That's a quality that everypony admires. :Starmane: You may be a bit different, but you're a spunky, young filly! You're a true entertainer. That's something we here admire very much and need more of in our esteemed group.